The London Fire department will be getting an upgrade in 2021. The department has started work on updating the software they use to conduct there day to day activities. The biggest update will be an update to the current GPS system.
“So our fire engines actually currently have GPS capabilities on tablets that are in every single-engine. And so it’s not that they’re just going off paper maps alone or anything like that,” said Katarina Burton, Manager, Finance & Planning for the London Fire Department. “What they do now, is they get a printout of information, but then by the time they’re in their truck, there might be some updates and things like that, all that information can come right through the computer system.”
Burton further explained that the new maps will have layers that will provide information on things like fire hydrants. More layers are expected to be added as time goes on. The new system will offer more than just an upgrade to maps.
“With the software that we’re using GPS is a small part of it, it really layers, a lot of different things into one piece of software. All the information can go into one place, and be accessed anywhere by anyone in the department at any time.”
Burton adds that the system will also link with the department’s inventory have a list of the department’s roster and allow for reports to be filed and viewed.
The software is being developed in partnership with a third party company based in Quebec. The project is currently in the development stage.
“What we’re doing now is we’re working on all the pieces in the background, getting the software ready. We’re making sure that everything’s working, there are no delays, ensuring that we have all the information we need, and everything’s functioning without glitches.”
The next stage will be the testing stage which is expected to begin in early 2021 with the technology being used in one to two trucks, to begin with. There are already plans for further steps once the software is integrated into more trucks.
“We’re looking at other things in the future, like automatic vehicle locations, where we’ll be able to see our vehicles and where they are at all times, things like that are what we’re planning for the next step after this,” explained Burton.
Although the GPS is only one part of the software update the main focus is on cutting down travel times and being as efficient as possible.
“We want to keep up with the times and we really want to make sure that our response times are the best that they can possibly be. So something like this will help us, even if we can save a couple of seconds here or there, it’ll be worthwhile, ” said Burton.
The upgrade is expected to be implemented in 2021 with upgrades and updates being made after that.
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